Chapter 302: Cloud City
Once some rules were understood, the station tasks gradually became clear.
Obviously, the various rewards they wanted this time, such as tickets, hidden station clues, Easter egg fragments, space expansion, etc., were all in the redemption column.
Gold rewards are the best, silver is second, and colorless rewards are easier to redeem.
Hidden rewards are not activated yet, and you need to try your luck.
Tang Yatong synchronized the message with the three of them, and You Zhenzhen couldn't help but try to redeem a "colorless reward", and then received a reward of a temporary increase of ten seconds in the game time limit.
Although it is speculated that this "game time limit" will be extended as the number of times they "survive" in the devouring game increases, at the current stage, being able to temporarily increase it by ten seconds is also a good reward. However,
it is still a long way from the reward they really want.
In the end, everyone else decided to save the redemption opportunity in exchange for a higher-level reward. As for whether the two teams should meet and act together, Lin Wu mentioned it. If
six people act together, the safety level will definitely be higher, but the size of the blue light coverage area is limited, and the number of devouring species that appear each time is not more than one, so if six people act together, it will reduce the game results and the increase in the number of redemptions.
So his opinion is to continue to maintain the current three-person team and act separately. This ensures that each team has sufficient supplies and offensive and defensive capabilities, and at the same time, can maximize the game results and redemption times in different areas.
"Separate actions again?" You Zhenzhen actually wanted to live in the tree house with You Xi, but considering that Xing Min and Xi Yuan both had no space and obviously needed You Xi more than she did, she finally just thought about it.
In the days that followed, the two teams monitored the population distribution map of the entire city-state in real time according to the program modified by Xing Min, and moved every day.
The fact that the blue light appears based on the number of people is easy to find. Officials and senior officials know it, and the people also have a rough idea of it. However, ordinary people cannot monitor the changes in the number of people in real time like Youxi and his team. Moreover, the flow of people is inherently uncontrollable, so even if the people hear about it, they can't change anything. However,
after several studies, the authorities decided to set up trap areas and fight back.
The first time, they deployed a large number of mechanical armed personnel in several completely destroyed areas, hoping to rely on the robots to eliminate all the devouring species that appeared after triggering the blue light.
If this plan is successful, they will deploy a large number of robots in several fixed areas in the future, set up bait ambushes for a long time, and reduce the number of times the blue light covers the residential areas of the people.
But the result was a failure. The robot could not attract the blue light at all. The blue light still covered several human-dense areas, causing heavy casualties again.
The second time, the authorities were determined to fight back and directly deployed personnel in several areas. This time, the blue light was invited, and the area was filled with the most lethal swallowing black hole - and it was not just one black hole, but multiple black holes appeared at the same time.
However, the black hole has no entity, and any attack will disappear into the bottomless black abyss. That night, the military suffered heavy losses...
Two consecutive failures shook the people's hearts, and the order that was originally suppressed by the official armed forces was completely disrupted.
**
When the explosion occurred, Youxi and the other two had already finished their mission in the blue light zone that night and were resting in the area after being ravaged by the Devouring Species.
The area they were in that night was located on Center 300. The mid-air area of Center 300 is very close to Center 350 where the Presidential Office is located.
Center 350 is also known as the Cloud City State Area. It is the highest mid-air building area in the entire city and the real aristocratic area of the city.
There are a large number of unique and gorgeous landscape buildings and observation platforms in the area - there are many check-in places such as glass corridors and suspended restaurants. It was originally the most desirable scenic area for the people, but now, the entire Center 350 area has been strictly sealed off and ordinary people are prohibited from entering.
In addition to the heavy alerts and defenses, the center 350 area also used a large number of mechanical armed personnel to replace military personnel. This was to control the number of people here to prevent the blue light from covering it again.
Because of the blockade and the protection of mechanical armed personnel, the blue light has never descended on the center 350 area again. Most places here still maintain the magnificent scenery before the blue light descended. The few official high-ranking officials, wealthy people and nobles living in this area also still maintain their lives before the disaster.
In the past ten days, Youxi and the other two have been to many different areas, both in mid-air buildings and on the ground. Wherever they go, the city is in a state of desolation and ruin.
The shadow of disaster looms over everyone. Schools are closed, factories are shut down, and many private businesses are closed. Only some fully automated businesses or those that use machine workers are still operating at a minimum level...
When they walk on the street, they often see people queuing in supermarkets with purchase restrictions, but they are in chaos because they cannot buy the drinking water and other supplies they need.
The gap between the rich and the poor in this city-state is very large. Under such circumstances, the people who line up in supermarkets every day to wait for the limited purchase supplies are all lower-class people who have no food stored at home.
They were caught in an economic crisis because of the factory shutdown. Their lives were already miserable. The whole family depended on the limited supplies they could buy every day for food. In this situation, even a bottle of ordinary water or a piece of bread were very important supplies. Once a conflict occurred, both sides would fight to the death...
The troops who delivered the supplies could not handle so many things. Sometimes they would get impatient because of the conflicts among the people in the grassroots areas. When they took action to manage, they would directly use the most brutal methods. Regardless of right or wrong, as long as they participated in the trouble, they would be arrested and detained.
These arrested people are often the main labor force of a family. After being locked up, they were forgotten by the troops. The whole family had no one to turn to, and fell into deeper despair.
Even worse, if the area is covered by blue light, the people trapped in the cells will not even have a chance to escape, and their families will not be able to escape in time because they have lost the backbone of the family, and will eventually be devoured by the invasive species...
In the disaster, all kinds of collisions and chaos have been seen. When they came to Center 300 and looked at the leisurely and peaceful Center 350 area 50 meters above, they suddenly felt a huge gap.
Fifty meters away, more than ten floors high, is not too far. Youxi can even clearly hear the melodious piano sound coming from the suspended restaurant above.
Many times, you can see wealthy people living in the central 350 area standing in front of the glass fence, looking down at the city-state with a bored look.
These people cannot leave the central 350 area at will due to the blockade. For them, life is becoming boring. When the blue light descends on other areas at night, many people even use various viewing devices to watch the scene of the devouring species wreaking havoc in the blue light area.
Youxi can see all of this, and other people staying in the central 300 area can also see it.
The nobles and wealthy people above 50 meters didn't even think about hiding their appearance of watching the fire from the other side.
When Youxi looked at the nobles above, she had a subtle premonition in her heart. She just didn't expect that this premonition would become a reality so soon.
The three-story tree house was placed in a small maple forest in the half-destroyed park area, and the surrounding plants covered the glass tree house. When she could find a suitable location, Youxi would put the tree house there to make daily life as comfortable as possible.
After adapting to the mode of this station, she finally understood why the difficulty level here is only A. Although the devouring species are terrible, they only appear for ten minutes each time, and the same area will only be covered once a day. For tourists, even if their attack power is not strong, as long as they have enough physical strength and reaction ability, they can survive these ten minutes by running away and dodging.
The blue light appeared earlier this night, just at dinner time. The devouring species that appeared was a huge gelatinous sphere. When the sphere hit the ground, it would bounce back. If it hit an object or a person smaller than the sphere, it would cover and integrate it completely, and it would also grow larger.
Youxi's awakening level has risen from "negative 3" to "1", but the game time limit has only increased by thirty seconds, becoming one minute.
This also means that within the ten minutes of blue light coverage, the three of them can only fight back for two minutes (including her and Xing Min's time), and the remaining eight minutes can only be spent on escape.
After the blue light disappears, it also means that from now on tonight until the sun sets tomorrow, this area is temporarily safe.
You Xi checked his phone and found that he had upgraded again.
Awakening level: 2
Game time limit: 90 seconds
Game results: Swallowing black hole (0), swallowing snake (1), swallowing dinosaur (3), swallowing flying saucer (2), swallowing ball (2), swallowing worm (4)...
Redemption: gold reward (redeemable), silver reward (redeemable), colorless reward (redeemable), hidden reward (not yet activated).
She was in a good mood. She put away the cans that she had originally planned to have for dinner, took out a pot of beef bone soup that Tang Yatong had prepared earlier, and took out the induction cooker. She decided to have hot pot for dinner.
Because it was only her and Xing Min eating - Xiyuan couldn't eat it, the taste of the dishes was completely based on their tastes: a vegetable platter with spinach, Chinese cabbage, chrysanthemum, lettuce, oyster mushrooms, bamboo fungus, konjac shreds, and shiitake mushrooms, and a pure meat platter with marbled beef, fat lamb rolls, tripe, yellow throat, luncheon meat, and duck blood.
In addition, she also prepared a large bowl of spicy dipping sauce filled with mashed garlic, coriander, and chopped green onions for herself, because they were eating clear soup pot, which she thought was too monotonous and needed a richer taste bud stimulation.
"There aren't many dishes. There are only two of us, so just share the meal."
Xing Min: ...
You Xi's definition of more and less dishes always leaves Xing Min speechless.
The two of them sat on either side of the bar and started to eat the steaming hot pot, and not far from them, Xiyuan had a sad face - if that face could show sadness, he would grease his joints...
When the hot pot was halfway through, You Zhenzhen called the video, and after You Xi clicked on the 3D stereo screen, he chose to play it publicly. You Zhenzhen's happy face immediately appeared in the air in front of them: "I redeemed another golden reward today, and now I have got the clue to the hidden station!"
Although they agreed not to redeem it for the time being and accumulate it for a while to see if the quantitative change can turn into qualitative change and activate the hidden reward, among the few people, You Zhenzhen was the most impatient.
Basically, whenever she saw the words "redeemable" on her phone, she would redeem it immediately. Fortunately, thanks to her example, others had a general understanding of what the different levels of rewards corresponded to.
Tickets and station clues were both gold rewards, silver rewards would occasionally give more useful skills or weapons, and colorless rewards were mostly food, water, medicine, and supplies, and occasionally they would also give skill buffs.
"The station clues point to the highest point of the city-state. It should be the Yunshang city-state area. Are you in Center 300 today? We can come and meet you tomorrow!"
"Yes, we are in Center 300. The blue light just disappeared. If you come over tomorrow, we will not move for the time being. But are the clues enough for now? Center 350 is also very large."
"There are pictures. It seems that we need to solve the puzzle based on the pictures. I'll take a picture and post it in the team group later - wait, are you eating hot pot?"
"Yes..."
"What a telepathic connection. The three of us are also eating hot pot today! Huh? Why isn't Xiyuan eating? Why are you sitting alone so miserable?"
"..." Xiyuan glanced at You Zhenzhen, who was asking questions knowingly in the three-dimensional stereoscopic video, and didn't want to pay attention to her.
"Don't be mad at him. His joints have been a little stuck these past two days. If you get mad at him, he'll get stuck soon. Even a bottle of engine oil won't be enough." You Xi held back her laughter.
Xi Yuan: ...
You Zhenzhen laughed for a while and hung up the video happily.
When the hot pot dinner was almost over, there was an explosion outside. The explosion was very close, and the entire ground was shaking slightly. Even the three people in the tree house felt it.
The place where the explosion occurred was outside the area just covered by the blue light. It was the location of the shuttle station and one of the few places in Center 300 that ordinary people were prohibited from entering.
Because the shuttle station at Center 300 can go directly to Center 350 and is also the last barrier between Center 350 and other areas, several shuttle stations were sealed off by the troops more than ten days ago and strictly monitored.
The three people from Youxi came to Center 300 today because the number of people gathered here has increased significantly. They originally thought that these people were for supplies, but now it seems that the people gathered here have other purposes.
This night, in the half-empty area of Center 300, at least 50% of the people participated in the riot. This was not a random riot that arose at the last minute, but an organized and planned action.
The people first set up an ambush and controlled the police in the area near the shuttle station, and then seized the two stations by force. Then, a strong electromagnetic pulse surged from bottom to top, affecting not only Center 300 but also Center 350.
In an instant, all robots were affected and entered a deadlock state, even Xiyuan who was in the tree house was affected.
Although his body became a robot, he was essentially a living person, so he still retained the ability to think, but his whole body was completely out of control and completely stuck and unable to move.
Outside the tree house, the city-state under the night became a mess, with shouting crowds everywhere, and waves of people from other areas of Center 300 rushed to the shuttle station. They controlled the station to open up a passage to Center 350.
The nobles and wealthy people who still lived a leisurely life in the Yunshang City-State eventually aroused public anger.
Xiyuan's robot had some problems, so he needed to go to a special machine shop to find tools to try to restart it. Youxi put away the tree house, and Xingmin found a manual cart that was not completely damaged nearby. According to the navigation function in the "Life Assist Device", they looked for the machine shop.
But the surrounding area had just been covered by blue light, and the buildings were destroyed. The two shops they found had been ravaged by the Devouring Ball, and not even a part was left.
Xingmin glanced at the direction of the shuttle station: "We have to go through that area and find a machine shop farther away."
Youxi nodded. There was no blue light covering that area. As long as they could get to the machine shop smoothly, they could find the tools they needed.
But the problem is that the riot zone in the middle is extremely chaotic. The troops who responded to the riots and the civilians are fighting each other. There are shouts and explosions everywhere, and there are frequent flashes of fire. People fall down from time to time, including some ordinary people who are not rioters.
They were originally queuing up in the nearby supermarket to buy limited goods, and were innocently involved in the chaos. Now they are trapped in the supermarket or store, unable to move forward or backward.
Some people tried to escape the scene, but were accidentally injured or even killed by the troops' stray bullets. Individual actions have aroused more public anger. Some people who did not participate in the riots saw their relatives and friends being mistakenly killed, and immediately joined the resistance team in anger.
There were cries and screams everywhere. How could they get through such a chaotic area?
On the cart, Xi Yuan, who was unable to move, tried his best to make a slight sound from the stuck parts. You Xi looked down at him, and seemed to see the worry in his slightly flashing red electronic eyes: "Don't worry, with my physical strength, I can carry you over with one hand, and with Xing Min here, stray bullets can't hit us."
The two of them pushed the cart and quickly approached the chaotic area.
Xing Min looked back at You Xi and stretched out his hand to her: "There are too many people, you hold me to avoid being squeezed."
You Xi stretched out her hand and was held tightly by Xing Min.
Unable to move, Xi Yuan looked at the interlocked hands above his head: ...
Xing Min held up the light golden barrier, and the two of them had not walked a few steps when You Xi suddenly stopped: "That person..."
"What's wrong?" Xing Min looked in the direction of her sight, and saw a familiar figure in the crowd of rioters - a young girl, carrying an old black axe on her back, and was quietly evacuating to the side from the front of the rioters. It seemed that she had accomplished something and was now planning to leave alone.
It was the girl named Meng Sha on the train.
She seemed to suddenly sense You Xi's gaze, stopped and turned around, and her sight accurately passed through the crowd and was cast at You Xi's location.
The two sides were far apart, and there was chaos in the middle. In this situation, he could sense Youxi's gaze and quickly find her in the crowd. It can be seen that the other party's sensitivity is not inferior to Youxi. The
two looked at each other for a moment, and Mengsha suddenly curled her lips and gave her a bright smile, then turned around and quickly blended into the crowd and disappeared.
Youxi slowly frowned, always feeling that the other party's smile carried some deep meaning.
"Let's go." Xing Min squeezed her fingers.
She nodded, and was about to move forward again, but found that the surroundings were suddenly covered by a purple-blue light.
This light started from the most chaotic shuttle station, like a light curtain pulled open by someone, and spread in all directions at a very fast speed, covering all nearby buildings and people, and spreading towards the ends and top of the center 300, all the way to the top of the center 350, completely covering the upper and lower half-air areas.
During this period, it also included the area that had just experienced the blue light invasion not long ago.
If Youxi was standing far away at this time, he would find that the blue light in other areas of the entire city-state disappeared instantly at this moment, regardless of whether the ten-minute countdown was over. All the blue light seemed to gather here, overlapping and covering layer by layer.
I don’t know if it’s because there are too many layers of coverage that this unusual purple-blue color is formed.
In midair, several huge three-dimensional countdowns appeared, all of which were 30 seconds long and were distributed in different areas to ensure that everyone could see them.
At the same moment, passengers who happened to be inside the purple-blue light screen received the same message on their mobile phones.
Tip: The regional alliance upgrade game has been activated, and the hidden reward has been activated.
Countdown for the upgrade battle: 30 minutes.
Youxi looked at his mobile phone and was not happy for long because of the activation of the hidden reward.
A regional alliance upgrade game that lasted a full 30 minutes?
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